Who are you?
I’ve been a teacher my entire adult life, first teaching art and more recently teaching mathematics. I get bored easily, so I am always exploring new things to do or learn about. Like, about six or seven years ago, over the summer break I learned all the basics of maintaining a car. About five years ago, I decided to learn about Bitcoin and write a blog on a daily basis about what I learned. From there, I started writing for some companies and eventually became a columnist at Cointelegraph.
During my time at Cointelegraph, I learned more about NFTs as an art form and became completely obsessed with it. I continue to teach, but my time away from teaching now revolves around hosting NFP with DKleine – the non-fungible podcast – and creating art on a daily basis.
What makes you want to make stuff?
When I’m creating, I find that I “zone out” and just enjoy the moment – the busyness of my mind fades away. I don’t think or worry about other stuff going on – I just focus on whatever I’m making. It’s meditative. But mostly, it’s just really fun and addictive.
What are you working on now?
Most days, I’m creating these Cube-Pop pieces of female portraits, sometimes alternating with a scribble style that I do very spontaneously. The occasional DKleine zombie crops up here and there, but I don’t make those nearly as often any more. They’re fun but… I like making beautiful things.
What bothers you about the NFT space?
I see a lot of predatory behavior – scammers constantly trying to steal assets or trick people into handing over private information. It can be so bad that even legitimate offers have to be dismissed as scams because – chances are – they aren’t legit. The key, I think, is to get to know people in the space and then check those entities you don’t know with the larger network of contacts. And never give out your passphrases or private keys to anybody. Ever. Even if they’re some official looking company. Just don’t.
What is your hope or vision for Koii?
My hope is that Koii becomes so pervasive as a backbone of Web 3.0 that people won’t even really be aware of its presence in the infrastructure of the new internet. It will allow creators to be compensated for their works no matter where or how their works are consumed. It’s pretty wild stuff.
Plug three artists:
I have to plug Ali Sabet. His art is simply beautiful. I love his line work and his gentle demeanour. Anonymous Nobody is another great artist who is constantly giving back to the community and helping onboard new creators into the scene. And of course, I have to credit the one and only ROBNESS with getting me into the scene in the first place. He’s so welcoming and friendly. Legit guy. TRASH for life.
Where can we find you?
I’m DKleine on KOII, OpenSea, KnownOrigin, Rarible, Foundation and even a little bit on Hic et Nunc. My podcast, NFP with DKleine, can be found on Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming platforms. All my links can be found at https://linktr.ee/DKleine .
Continue the conversation and join Koii’s official community Telegram channel, Koii’s Discord, and follow us on Twitter. 100K KOII, Enter to win!
Is your NFT Built on Rock or on Sand?